All good things come from Sweden.

Don’t believe me? Think about it: Abba. Ikea. Dynamite. GPS. Green-living communities. Lord of the Rings-inspired metal music. Statuesque blond ski instructors.

And Spotify.

Way back in 2008, a software development company in Sweden kicked back and thought about how great it would be to offer DRM-free, streaming music to the masses. Granted, lots of people have had this thought. I’m sure you’ve all spent some time on websites like Pandora, last.fm, and maybe even Grooveshark. But you probably don’t have an iTunes-like desktop client that will do what those sites will do. That’s what Spotify is all about.

Spotify lets you pick and choose what music you want to hear from their seemingly bottomless catalog, track by track, album by album, or artist by artist. It will also automatically import any existing audio files on your computer into its directory, so can play those songs along with stuff from Spotify. You can drag things directly into your play queue or create custom playlists. The stuff you make is saved to your account, so you can access the same playlists and history from any computer. You can also link your Spotify account to your Facebook, so you can share playlists with your friends and subscribe to their playlists in turn. Lists are also provided from time to time by the Spotify staff, and other commercial interests like Rolling Stone magazine and various record labels.

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If you have a mobile device running Google’s Android software, the time has come to rejoice. The internet giant recently launched the online version of their app store, Android Market.

While you could always access the market from your Android device to download tons of free and paid applications, you can now check out the same selection from your computer’s internet browser. Having the mobile store to browse on the go is certainly a great convenience, but there’s something to be said for shopping for apps with more screen real estate at hand.  Considering every app’s page has screenshots, reviews, thumbnails of other apps by the same developer, and sometimes even videos of the app in action, it can be a lot to absorb on the 3.5-4″ display most touch-based smartphones sport.

The online market makes it easier to view all the information on an app’s page at once, so you may find your stamina for browsing greatly increased. But the best part? Once you’ve logged in to the market, you can install any app you like directly from the site—without connecting your device to your computer.  Android Market will automatically stream the content from server to smartphone, making the download process just as easy as if you were using the mobile market.

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If you have seen a billboard, read a magazine, or even turned on your TV in the past year or so, you’ve probably caught a glimpse of these: strange, square designs that mean nothing to the naked eye. But given the proper technology, a wealth of information is there for the scanning.

This little box is what is known as a QR, or “quick response,” code. Originally developed in Japan by a subsidiary of the Toyota corporation, the codes can hold a massive amount of information in a relatively small space—over 4,000 alphanumeric characters.

Because QR codes can be used to create an action rather than just spitting out a string of data, they’re ideal for storing links to online content. Lots of advertisers make use of this feature in billboards and other outdoor marketing, where it’s called “hardlinking.” People can capture the QR code and be redirected to a website with special promotions or information relating to the advertising content.

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